Town Hall Newsletter: February
Personal conversation with the community about the next steps with the magazine print distribution, contributing writers for new articles, and yes, I do plan to move us off Substack eventually.
Blackstack! Not to be messy, but did y’all hear about the drama with HillmanTok? I’m so glad this community did not end up like Black TikTok after all, we turned out to be a Black community that puts their money where their mouth is, a community that brings forth change because if not us then who?
I’ve been sitting back and watching all of the Black organizations form like a proud big sister realizing how much we need each other right now, more than before. The way my mind works, I’m looking at the situations to come, the laws being reversed like UNO in the blink of an eye. Like Harriett Tubman, I’m plotting on the loophole, the way out. This language is nothing new coming from me, I’ve said this since last year the difference is now I’ve found a way.
While we know the game is chess not checkers, many of us still only know the rules of checkers. This game metaphor has been the language used in our culture for decades and Kendrick’s show was the perfect way to explain it for the younger generations misled by the language. Now, y’all know I love the West Coast and I’m heavily influenced by the rappers here.
Why? Because they always talk about building their own within their communities to help the people in it; it’s a structure to cut the middle man out. The middle man can be the music industry, media, and government, at this point for me it can be anybody in my way of helping my community experience the life of their dreams.
Why? Because I was blessed with the opportunity to show this community how the Universe made my dreams a reality before our eyes like magic through my vulnerable storytelling. I share my experiences loudly because I know so many of us have been conditioned to silence the truth.
That is why we must print in-house. We as Black people must have a print publication we own and control to get our stories out, we are writing history through our truths. The magazine is only real if I print them myself, here in Oakland. My entire soul feels this strongly so I am investing in us, if I print the magazine in-house that means I can print your next book, your art prints to sell, or your next subscriber zine.
Rather than paying over $2000 to fulfill the current orders, I can invest that money in the printers, equipment, and supplies needed to print and bind a book, zine, or art/photography prints from my loft that I just turned into my home office.
Here’s a video of me explaining some of the things on my mind and heart when it comes to Blackstack.
The way this administration is moving in America, I can’t afford for our books to be banned. They will not silence us, our messages will get out, and our history will be preserved.
Printing through Amazon with the poor quality they provide was keeping me up at night. I had to figure out a solution to the problem, and printing locally wasn’t going to be sustainable or beneficial to our community. By lower the print cost by $14 per magazine, contributing writers will be able to make a monthly royalty from their magazine sales when purchased through the website. (Please wait for those details to be emailed privately to each of you in the next couple of days before you promote to your communities.) But most importantly, Blackstack can now offer affordable print publication and distribution to our community members.
Now, here’s a full breakdown of what I plan to purchase as the initial investment with the money raised so far from the magazines. Keep in mind the structure of the nonprofit is for the print magazine to be the fundraiser to fund the setup for in-house print publication and distribution.
Investment List
This is a detailed list of my current Amazon cart to make the inital investment to make the first 250 magazines to order. As of right now we are almost at 50 magazines sold including contributing writer orders helping us to fundraise the initial investment. I can’t thank you all enough for the support, so let’s do this thing right!
Body Text Printer: Brother HL-L9310CDW (Color Laser, Tabloid) $679.98
Glossy Cover & Photo Pages Printer: Epson EcoTank Photo ET-15000 (Inkjet, Tabloid) $599.99
Book Press Machine: Wood Bookbinding Press (14.7” x 11.4”) $36.97
Thermal Binding Machine: VEVOR Wireless Glue Book Binding Machine $363.88
Magazine Text Paper: Hammermill 28lb Premium Color Copy Paper (11” x 17”) $102.90 per 2,000 sheets
Glossy Cover Paper: Epson Premium Glossy Paper (11” x 17”) $25.98 per 20 sheets
Bookbinding Kit: Waxed Linen Thread, Bookbinding Sewing Needles, Paper Awl, Bone Folders, Binding Ribbon, Glue Brush, Steel Ruler $20.99 per kit
Bookbinding Punch Cradle: Bamboo Cradle for Signature Punching $16.99 per kit
PVA Bookbinding Glue: Strong Spine Glue $70.99 per gallon bottle
Mull Cloth (Spine Reinforcement): Super Cloth for Extra Strength $19.99
Chipboard (Hardcover Board, 2mm thick): 100 Sheets (8.5” x 1”) $20.49 (Minority-Owned Supplier)
Ongoing Expenses
Toner (Laser Printer): Brother 4-Color Super High-Yield Toner $545.95 per set
Ink (Inkjet Printer): Epson EcoTank Claria Ink Refill $105 per set
Thermal Binding Maching Glue: Book Binding EVA Hot Melt $99.99 per 10 lbs
Magazine Text Paper: Hammermill 28lb Premium Color Copy Paper (11” x 17”) $102.90 per 2,000 sheets
Glossy Cover Paper: Epson Premium Glossy Paper (11” x 17”) $25.98 per 20 sheets
PVA Bookbinding Glue: Strong Spine Glue $70.99 per gallon bottle
Mull Cloth (Spine Reinforcement): Super Cloth for Extra Strength $19.99
Chipboard (Hardcover Board, 2mm thick): 100 Sheets (8.5” x 1”) $20.49 (Minority-Owned Supplier)
Ways to Support the Fundraiser Campaign
Click on the text to access the link taking you directly to the support page.
Purchase a copy of the Blackstack Magazine Issue 001: The Visionary
Purchase something off the investment list to be sent directly to me to unbox.
If you can’t support monetarily that’s not a problem, share this newsletter to get the word out about Blackstack and the work we are doing to preserve the voice of Black writers and creatives in our community.
I can’t wait to document this journey so we can all see the vision through! Thank you, thank you! The community isn’t even a year yet, and look at what all we have accomplished, I know there is much more to come!
xoxo, Jacquie
1000% agree with ALL OF THIS! We don’t need the middle men anymore.
We can build on our own within our community. Period! As long as the discussions keep happening, we can continue to build.
You’re doing a great job! This is really cool